Station-indicator.



PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906.

J. T. SHOFNBR.

' STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1904.

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J. T. SHOFNBR. STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15. 1904.

PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 12, 1906.

Application filed April 15, 1904. Serial No. 203,305.

To (LN whom it may concern- Be it known that I, J OSEPH T. SHOFNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haley, in the county of Bedford, State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Station-Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I

This invention relates to indicators, and more particularly to those for use in railroadcars to indicate the station which the train is approaching, and has for its object to provide an indicator which may be readily applied to any car and which may be adjusted to compensate for diflerent-size car-wheels to insure correct operation of the mechanism.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a car provided with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of a portion of the car, showing the parts of the invention located thereon. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the casing of the indicator. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of the axle and the sprocket.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown an axle 5, mounted in the usual manner in the truck of a railroad-car, and to the axle 5 there is attached a sprocket-wheel 6. This sprocket-wheel consists of two portions 7 and 8, having lugs 11 projecting therefrom. The lugs of each portion of the sprocket extend over the other portion, and

bolts 12 are engaged in the portions 7 and 8 and in the lugs to hold the sprocket-wheel upon the axle.

Mounted in suitable bearings 13 upon the bottom of the car and extending transversely of the car there is a shaft 14, near one end of which is mounted a sprocket-wheel 15, which is connected by means of an endless chain 16 to the sprocket-wheel 6. The shaft 14 carries a worm 17, which is meshed with a gearwheel 18, which is mounted on one end of a shaft 14, which extends longitudinally of the car and which carries a worm 15, meshing with a gear 16 on the lower end of a vertical shaft 19, passing upwardly through the floor of the car.

Within the car there is disposed a casing 20, having a shaft 26 mounted therein which i projects beyond the outer face of the casing and has a disk A mounted thereon from the center of which there projects a pin B, simi lar pins C and D projecting from the face of the disk between the periphery thereof and the pin B, and projecting over the face of the disk at one edge thereof and spaced therefrom is an indicator-point E. A disk of cardboard or other suitable material 22 is engaged with the pins B, C, and D, and bears a dial upon which are arranged in a circle the names of the different stations along the route. It will thus be seen that when a car provided with the indicator is used on a different route the disk 22 may be removed and one substituted therefor which bears the stations of the new route.

Within the casing 20 the shaft 26 has mounted thereon a gear-wheel 28, which is connected by means of a train of gears journaled within the casing with a friction-disk 29. The shaft 19 passes upwardly within the casing and revolves in a bearing 30 in the bottom thereof and projects over the face of the friction-disk 29. A collar 31 is slidably disposed upon the shaft 19 and lies in engagement with the face of the disk 29 to impart the motion of the shaft 19 thereto, and to hold the collar at different points of its movement upon the shaft 19 it is provided with a set-screw 32. As shown in the drawings, the shaft 19 lies radially of the disk 29, and the collar 31 may be moved upon the shaft 19 to reduce or increase the speed of the disk 29, and in this way it is possible to accurately adjust the mechanism to compensate for differences in the size of the carwheels.

The circumference of the dial on the disk 22 is divided into spaces equal in number to the miles in the route which the car traverses, and the collar 31, after the mechanism has been installed in the car, is adjusted to cause the disk to move one of these spaces by the indicator-point E for each mile covered by the cart The occupants of the car are thus enabled to ascertain their exact location at all times and will be notified of the approach to a station. As mentioned above, the disk 22 is removable so that other disks may be substituted when it is desired to use the car on different lines.

What is claimed is- In an indicator for cars, the combination with a casing, of a disk revolubly mounted upon the casing, a dial-plate removably secured upon the disk, an indicator arrange d to indicate different points of a route upon the dial-plate as the latter is revolved, a friction-disk revolubly mounted in the casing, operative connections between the friction disk and the first-named disk for simultaneous rotation thereof, a shaft journaled within the casing and extending outwardly thereof, a friction-pinion slidably mounted upon the shaft and engaging the friction-disk and movable upon the shaft radially of the disk, means for holding the pinion at different points of its movement upon the shaft, a worm-gear carried by the shaft, a worm shaft adapted to intermesh with the gear, attaching brackets in which the worm-shaft is engaged, a worm-gear carried by the wormshaft, a second worm-shaft adapted to mesh with the second worm-gear, attaching brackets in which the second worm-shaft is engaged, a sprocket carried by the second JOSEPH T. SHOFNER.

Witnesses:

G. E. SLATER, J. N. THRONEBERRY. 

